Ankur 2012 - BASC - Bengali Association of Southern California

Ankur 2012 5
Hi All:
What amazes me about Swami Vivekananda is his simplicity and practicality. His teachings
can be so easily applied to our lives. He didn't speak in the realm of hypotheticals or utopias but of
everyday life and of our collective responsibilities as human beings. It almost seems that to apply his
teachings is to lead a life in which we all just do the right thing. But I feel that these sort of teachings
make it much easier and more difficult to fulfill. On one hand, these are goals that are accessible in
our own lives so we can strive to achieve them. On the other hand, the excuse of hiding behind idealistic
and intangible goals falls away since Swamiji's teachings are so easily applicable to our lives.
Through this Ankur and from reading our variety of submissions, I have realized that how important
it is to achieve the little things that can collectively improve the world. I know that I am far from being
the most educated in the teachings of Swami Vivekananda but I feel we can best pay tribute to
him by helping and caring for the members our extended family, the BASC community. With that, I
hope you join me in this effort as well as recognize the amazing display of talent in our community.
Shubho Bijoya,
Romit Gupta
Editor-in-Chief
-“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson -
Hey guys, it’s Archan here. For the past decade I have been involved with the Ankur magazine.
I started with my ‘Spooky Light House’ drawing in 2002, to my ‘Ode to Fries’ in 2006, and there
have been several other entries throughout the years. This year I have been lucky because I got to be
a part of a magazine that we dedicate to Swami Vivekananda, a man who I respect.
January will be the 150th anniversary of his birth. Although Vivekananda belonged to the
19th century, his life and simple but bold words are arguably more relevant than ever today. He is
credited with bringing forth interfaith awareness and introducing Hinduism (through the teachings of
Vedanta and Yoga) to the modern world. With the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, a new
era dawned upon us. The Western world was rudely awakened and opened their eyes to new cultures
that seemed to have crept up on them. With every year the size of the Earth becomes smaller
as technology advances and different worlds collide. It is clear that future generations will have to
learn and adjust to these changes and realize Swami Vivekananda’s message. Swami Vivekananda
once said, “My faith is in the younger generation, the modern generation; out of them will become
my workers, and they will work out the whole problem. They will spread my message from center to
center until we cover the whole of India.” It is up to us, especially the younger generation, to embrace
these changes and accept the different cultures from around the world.
It has been a great pleasure working with the Ankur team. I hope this magazine inspires the
younger kids in our community to join Ankur and follow Swamiji’s rational and humanistic teachings
of the Vedanta philosophy.
Shubho Bijoya,
Archan Mallick
Editor-in-Chief